Coaxial cable is commonly used to carry high frequency electrical signals. In the wireless and cellular telephone industries coaxial cable is used to transmit power signals from amplifiers to antennas on the tops of towers and for radio transmitter applications. The cable is typically about to 2″ in diameter and includes a metal central conductor surrounded by a metal outer conductor. Foam insulation fills the space between the conductors.
The coaxial cable may be a smooth coaxial cable having a smooth outer conductor, or may be a corrugated coaxial cable having a corrugated outer conductor. The corrugations improve cable flexibility. The corrugated coaxial cable may have an outer conductor that has a series of circular peaks and valleys spaced along the length of the cable. Alternatively, the outer conductor may be spiral wound with spiral peaks and valleys extending along the length of the cable.
Connectors are attached to the ends of coaxial cables to allow the cables to be connected to contact ports on electronic components such as amplifiers, antennas, splitters and the like. Conventional connectors for corrugated coaxial cable connectors include a central pin that is joined to the central conductor in the cable and an outer conductor that is clamped to both sides of an exposed peak at the end of the outer cable conductor. In order to attach the connector to the cable it is necessary to trim the ends of the conductors in the cable precisely. The outer conductor must be cut at a peak. The foam insulation under the peak end of the outer conductor must be trimmed away to expose both sides of the outer conductor for clamp engagement by the outer conductor. U.S. Pat. No. 6,133,532 discloses a conventional connector for a corrugated coaxial cable in which an electrical connection is established at a peak at the exposed end of the outer conductor after insulation has been cut away under the peak.
It is difficult and time consuming to attach a conventional coaxial connector to the end of corrugated coaxial cable. The cable must be trimmed precisely and foam insulation must be carefully cut away from under the trimmed end of the outer conductor. Specialized tools are used and practice is needed to attach the connector to a corrugated coaxial cable reliably. The physical connection between the connector and cable is not strong and may fail and break the electrical connections.
Mounting of conventional corrugated cable connectors in the field is difficult, particularly when performed in the weather many feet above the ground on the top of a transmission tower. Mounting a connector on a conventional corrugated cable may take as many as twenty minutes.
If the connector is not mounted correctly on the end of the cable, the connection will fail. Failure may not be immediate. Delayed failure requires connector replacement, frequently at the top of the tower and greatly increases overall cost of the installation.
Accordingly, a new connector for coaxial cable is needed that is quick and easy to install on the end of the cable, and forms strong and reliable electrical and physical connections with the conductors in the coaxial cable. The connector should be easily and reliability mounted on a corrugated cable with circular or spiral wound outer conductors, and should also be reliably mounted on smooth, or non-corrugated, cable.